BOARD OF DIRECTORS

• Kristen Vanags, President, Advocacy

Kristen Vanags is the co-founder and president of Georgia PKU Connect and a leading advocate for medical foods coverage. She also serves on the Georgia Newborn Screening Advisory Committee and is the current National PKU Alliance Advocacy Chair. Kristen previously served on the board of the Southeast Regional Genetics Group and was the chair of the Southeast NBS & Genetics Collaborative Consumer Alliance. Kristen received the inaugural Applied Nutrition ROSE Award and coordinated the first National PKU Awareness Day with U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson (GA). Prior to her engagement in non-profit work, Kristen was a business process consultant with Accenture and later did freelance change management consulting. Kristen lives with her husband and two children in Atlanta, home of her alma mater, Georgia Tech.

• Shiela Ryan, Vice President, Education, Clinic Coordination

Shiela Ryan has been a member of the Georgia PKU Connect Board of Directors since 2009. She graduated in May, 2017 from the Georgia State University Undergraduate Program (DPD) in Nutrition and Dietetics. During her enrollment at GSU Shiela was the Treasurer for the Nutrition Student Network, received a DPD Outstanding Student Award, and attained a ServSafe manager’s certification. Shiela also holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a focus in Human Resources Management from Columbus State University. Prior to studying Nutrition at GSU Shiela held a management position in Employee Benefits for Synovus Financial Corp. for over 10 years. While not studying nutrition, or connecting with Georgia PKU families Shiela enjoys spending time with her family, running, and cooking. Her interest in supporting the PKU community began with the diagnosis of her Nephew in 2008 and her professional journey in nutrition continues with the onset of her Dietetic Internship Fall, 2017 with Keith & Associates Dietetic Distance Internship (KADDI).

• Christina Yang, Treasurer

Christina serves as Treasurer on the Board. Christina is originally from Philadelphia, PA and moved to Atlanta, GA with her two children, in 2011. Having moved to a new city, Christina wanted to connect with other families who live with PKU and found Georgia PKU Connect via a Google Search and connected with Kristen through the “Connect with Us” link on the website. Through Georgia PKU Connect’s annual Camp Connect, Christina’s daughter Elizabeth learned the importance of maintaining her diet and most importantly that she is not alone. In 2018, Christina was asked to join the Georgia PKU Connect, Board of Directors as Treasurer. Professionally, Christina has held various roles within the Finance & Accounting organization at Turner Broadcasting, since 2011. She is currently supporting CNN’s Digital businesses as Manager of Financial Analysis. Christina graduated from Temple University with a B.B.A. in Accounting and has passed all four parts of the CPA exams. She currently lives in Atlanta, with her son Daniel and Elizabeth.

• John Lorimer, Secretary

As the parent of two PKU adults, John has been actively involved in PKU issues for several decades, including serving as President of the Illinois PKU Parents Organization in the past. Professionally John worked in the fields of Communications, Technology, Human Resources and Risk Management, most recently as Vice President of Analytics Product Management for LexisNexis, specializing in fraud mitigation. John is now retired and spends much of his time volunteering with several charitable organizations, including assisting with Georgia PKU Connect.

• Adele Hunt, Events

• Cathy Lorimer, Communications

Cathy is a mom of two PKU adults (and one non-PKU child) born in the early days when the PKU collaborative study was still determining how long children should remain on diet. A native of Illinois, Cathy retired with her husband and is currently living in Georgia. Cathy served on the Illinois PKU board for two consecutive terms. She was responsible for layout and design for the quarterly PKU Press of Illinois, and helped with the annual Illinois PKU conferences. Finding few resources for managing the diet, Cathy wrote and published the “Low Protein Cuisine” cookbook in 1991 after her niece was also born with PKU. Eventually, with the advent of the internet, Cathy designed and served as webmaster for the first Illinois PKU website. Though her children are now grown, being educated and helping in the PKU world is important to her. Her PKU son and his wife are now living nearby in Georgia, and her PKU daughter lives in Illinois with her husband where she regularly speaks and writes on behalf of PKU.

• Joanne Hunt, Fundraising

• Daniel Almeida, At Large

Daniel Almeida is a senior financial executive, with 20 years of experience in investment and risk management, insurance and derivatives. After many roles within ING Group and Aflac in Brazil, Latin America and USA, he is now the Director for Global Risk Management at Intercontinental Exchange Inc. When his younger daughter was diagnosed with PKU in 2008, he met Kristen via the Emory Genetics Clinic and they have been in contact since then. Given his personal link to the PKU community and also professional background, in 2015 he was invited to join the Board of Georgia PKU Connect. Besides supporting all its activities, his main focus in the group has been on Organization Planning and Board development, determining skills, experience needed, and defining board member roles and responsibilities. Daniel lives in Atlanta with his wife and 2 daughters.

• Lindsey Coltraine, At Large

Lindsey Coltraine is a Registered Nurse who works in mental health, and she is pursuing a Master of Marriage and Family Therapy degree where she hopes to work with families with children. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology before going on to complete her Master’s of Nursing degree with Georgia Health Sciences University. She is married to Brian Coltraine, and they have a son who was born in October 2015 with PKU. Lindsey has been very active in the PKU community and is proud to serve on the board. Her passion is connecting with new families and helping to ease the transition into the PKU world.